Guest Opinion: A case for passage of Gateway Cities legislation

Tuesday

Jun 17, 2014 at 12:01 AM

The future success of Gateway Cities should be part of any statewide economic strategy as they are key to the long-term competitiveness of Massachusetts. Gateway cities such as Fall River and New Bedford are underutilized economic assets. They possess excellent location and infrastructure, their history and architecture give them a unique and desirable quality of place, and relative to other parts of the state, Gateway Cities are affordable. Gateway Cities are also disproportionately home to young residents who are the human talent that will be vital to the future Massachusetts workforce.

Robert A. MellionFall River Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The future success of Gateway Cities should be part of any statewide economic strategy as they are key to the long-term competitiveness of Massachusetts. Gateway cities such as Fall River, Taunton and New Bedford are underutilized economic assets. They possess excellent location and infrastructure, their history and architecture give them a unique and desirable quality of place, and relative to other parts of the state, Gateway Cities are affordable. Gateway Cities are also disproportionately home to young residents who are the human talent that will be vital to the future Massachusetts workforce.

Statewide economic trends continue to illustrate a solid turnaround in Massachusetts that is built on a resurgent niche and advanced manufacturing sector, soaring educational attainment and the emergence of the knowledge-based innovation technology industries that produce quality higher-paying jobs. Yet these advances tend to obscure what is happening in the traditional mill communities. On the one hand, Greater Boston has evolved into an economic juggernaut that comprises a majority of Massachusetts trade and industry. On the other hand, only a few Massachusetts cities and regions are fully participating in the state’s economic recovery. Gateway Cities may actually be falling farther behind.

It is clear that housing and economic development policies in Massachusetts have inadequately provided the tools Gateway Cities need to transition from the industrial age to the commonwealth’s 21st century innovation-driven economy. House Bill 311 is legislation that presents an overdue opportunity to better align housing and economic development policies that generate added growth in the communities that drive regional economies across the state.

The purpose of H311 is to incentivize development in Gateway Cities. This needed legislation makes several changes to the Historical Rehabilitation Tax Credit that is designed to facilitate an increase in completed historic rehabilitation projects. The bill also extends the sunset date for the Brownfields Tax Credit Program. The most notable feature of H311 is the establishment of a dedicated transformative development fund for Gateway Cities at MassDevelopment. The fund is designed to foster investment by promoting residential and commercial development in Gateway Cities.

While the $67 million that the transformative development fund will initially invest into our Gateway Cities is meaningful, the real meat in the H311 is how the bill ensures that economic development resources are deployed as effectively as possible to the cities that most need the assistance. Rather than investing in a one-size-fits-all manner, the transformative development fund gives cities such as Fall River, Salem and Lawrence the flexibility to pursue their most compelling opportunities for growth. In return for this flexibility, projects must be backed up by rigorous and transparent analysis.

Now is the right time to assist Gateway Cities through passage of reform legislation that is meaningful. H311 repairs infrastructure and creates jobs in the Gateway Cities that are often only recognized as a chronic statistic about unemployment. Resetting housing and economic development policies so that they maximize return on taxpayer investment will create jobs and help Massachusetts become stronger and more competitive.

Lawmakers and residents alike must learn to look at Gateway Cities in a new light. H311 and the establishment of a transformative development fund is meaningful legislation that can make a difference. Cities such as Fall River, Taunton and New Bedford can become key economic hubs that will sustain city residents and those living in their surrounding communities. In the short term, stimulating reinvestment in Gateway Cities will assist and remediate brownfields and encourage recruitment of business and industry to Massachusetts. The long-term statewide commitment to Gateway Cities can generate a boost to the Massachusetts economy by re-energizing our older cities into stronger, more competitive economic hubs that will be the productive job centers of tomorrow.

Robert A. Mellion, Esq. is president and CEO of the Fall River Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry.